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Germany’s Angela Merkel, viewed by many as a staunch defender of the liberal world order and
a bulwark against the rising tide of populism in Europe, has decided to
step down as leader of the center-right Christian Democratic Union
(CDU) party in December and not run again for the chancellorship in
2021. Merkel, who dominated European politics for the past thirteen
years, has been chairwoman since 2000 and chancellor since 2005.

“I will not be seeking any political post after my term ends,” Merkel told a news conference in Berlin on October 29.

For the first time since the early 2000s, Brazilians have elected a president that does not belong to the Workers’ Party (PT).

On October 28, Brazilians elected as their president Jair Bolsonaro, a
populist former army captain who has served as a member of the Chamber
of Deputies representing the state of Rio de Janeiro since 1991.
Bolsonaro, who belongs to the Social Liberal Party (PSL), defeated his
PT rival, Fernando Haddad, in a runoff election after a highly contested
election. Bolsonaro won 55.1 percent of the votes against 44.9 percent
for Haddad.

If there is one thing most arms control experts can agree on it is this:
Russia has for many years been violating the Intermediate-Range Nuclear
Forces (INF) Treaty.

Another thing they agree on: US President
Donald J. Trump’s intention to walk away from the treaty signed by the
United States and the Soviet Union in 1987 has created the impression
that it is the United States that is at fault.

A Turkish court on October 12 freed from house arrest a US pastor whose case had severely strained ties between Washington and Ankara—NATO allies.

Pastor Andrew Brunson was arrested in 2016 and convicted on terrorism
charges in relation with a coup attempt in Turkey on July 15, 2016. He
was sentenced to three years in prison. Brunson has denied the charges.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley’s resignation on October
9 caught many, including some within US President Donald J. Trump’s
Cabinet, by surprise. She will leave the post at the end of the year.

Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right populist who has been compared to Donald J.
Trump, won the first round of the presidential election in Brazil on
October 7, but fell just short of the majority required to avoid a
second-round runoff. The former army captain will face left-wing
Workers’ Party (PT) candidate, Fernando Haddad, in a runoff on October
28.

Western governments on October 4 unleashed a torrent of accusations
against Russia saying its intelligence agency was responsible for
cyberattacks on inquiries into Olympic doping, a former spy’s poisoning,
and the downing of a commercial aircraft in 2014.

Deng spoke even as the death toll in South Sudan’s civil war steadily
mounted. The war, which broke out in December 2013, was triggered by the
bitter rivalry between South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, and his
on-again-off-again First Vice President Riek Machar. A new study backed by the US State Department concluded that at least 382 900 people have died since 2013; millions have been displaced.

US President Donald J. Trump’s administration said on October 3 it was
terminating the 1955 Treaty of Amity with Iran. Announcing the decision,
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted “the absolute absurdity” of
remaining in the treaty given the prevailing high tensions between the
United States and Iran.

Canada agreed, moments before the clock ran out on a September 30
deadline, to sign on to a trade agreement between the United States and
Mexico that would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). The new agreement will be known as the United
States-Mexico-Canada Agreement or USMCA.

The new trade agreement between the United States, Canada, and Mexico
“modernizes” the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and lifts a
cloud of uncertainty that has lingered over the past several months,
according to Earl Anthony Wayne, a nonresident senior fellow with the
Atlantic Council’s Global Business and Economics Program.